2018 Youth Olympic Qualifying Procedure

FINA and USA Swimming have announced the qualifying times and procedures for the 2018 Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Buenos Aires is the third city to host the summer version of this event. In 2010, the first Youth Olympic Games were held in Singapore. Swimming saw new stars such as Chad le Clos, Velimir Stjepanovic, Emma McKeon, and Tang Yi. The 2014 Games were held in Nanjing, China where Anton Chupkov and Evgeny Rylov had their international break outs.

Each National Olympic Committee must abide by the FINA qualification procedures, but are allowed to add other procedures to their own selection process.

The 2018 Games will be held from October 6 – 18.

FINA Qualification Procedures

Number of swimmers

Like 2014, 400 swimmers will be selected to participate: 200 women and 200 men. The maximum number of swimmers a country is allowed is 8: 4 women and 4 men.

Age

Athletes must have been born between 1 January 2000 and 31 December 2003, which means all athletes are between the ages of 15 and 18.

Qualifying Time Standards

Eligible Teams

The top 16 teams from the 2017 FINA Senior World Championship in Budapest, Hungary are allowed 8 swimmers (4 men and 4 women) if they meet the qualifying time standards. Here are the top 16 teams eligible.

Eligible Relay Teams

Top 16 from the 2017 FINA Senior World Championship in the men and women 4x100m freestyle and 4x100m medley relays are eligible for these events.

Universality Places

The remaining 112 spots are available for swimmers who are eligible and reach the minimum performance defined by FINA. Teams eligible must have participated in a FINA approved competition within the qualification period.

These athletes do not meet the qualifying standard times, but were selected based off FINA points. Each team selected can enter 1 boy and 1 girl. Each athlete can enter up to two individual events. 

Qualification Period

• Times from April 1, 2017 – July 31, 2018 are considered
• August 5, 2018 is the deadline for teams to submit their roster
• August 31, 2018 is the deadline for all sports to submit entries

Here is the complete FINA selection procedure

USA Swimming Specific Procedures

Just like 2010 and 2014, USA will more than likely not put a major emphasis on this meet. The previous two Games were held in August and had minimal impact on the academic schedule. Now with the Games being held in the middle of October, it will be interesting to see which athletes accept their invitation.

Tryout Events

• 2017 USA Swimming U.S. Open (August 2-6, East Meadow, NY)
• 2017 Speedo Junior National Championships (August 8-12, East Meadow, NY)
• 2018 Austin Arena Pro Series (January 11-13, Austin, TX,)
• 2018 Georgia Tech Pro Series (March 1-3, Atlanta, GA)
• 2018 Mesa Arena Pro Series (April 12-14, Mesa, AZ April)
• 2018 Indianapolis Arena Pro Series (May 17-20, Indianapolis, IN)
• 2018 Santa Clara Arena Pro Series (June 14-17, Santa Clara, CA)
• 2018 Ohio State Arena Pro Series (July 6-8, Columbus, OH)

Selection

Athletes’ times from the “Tryout Events” listed above will be ranked. The 4 women and 4 men who accept invitations from USA with the highest world rankings in Olympic events and will be selected. Like 2014, athletes who participate in the 2018 Youth Olympic Games are not allowed to participate in the 2018 Pan Pacific Championships or 2018 Junior Pan Pacific Championships.

Here is the complete USA selection procedure

In 2010, the Americans sent 8 swimmers: Erich Peske, Thomas Stephens, Steve Schmuhl, Austin Ringquist, Kiera Janzen, Jordan Mattern, Allison Roberts, and Kaitlyn Jones. Jones medaled in both of her events: silver in 200m backstroke and gold in 200m individual medley. The only other American to medal was Kiera Janzen with a silver in the 400m freestyle.

In 2014, the Americans were: Patrick Conaton, Patrick Mulcare, P.J. Ransford, Justin Wright, Hannah Moore, Courtney Mykkanen, Meghan Small, and Clara Smiddy. Moore won gold in the 400 freestyle and tied for gold in the 200m backstroke. Smiddy won another gold for the Americans in the 100m backstroke. Megham Small won a bronze medal in the 200m individual medley.